New Zealand still juggling Twenty20 line-up

New Zealand's preferred Twenty20 line-up appears far from settled after they abandoned plans to bat Jacob Oram at No. 3 and hand Gareth Hopkins the wicketkeeping duties. A disappointing pair of warm-up matches over the weekend forced a rethink from the coach John Bracewell, who last week said their practice matches would "simulate closely" the format they would use in the ICC World Twenty20.

Their opening game is against Kenya this evening (New Zealand time) and Bracewell has now decided Brendon McCullum can handle the glovework as well as opening the batting. "This gives us tremendous firepower right through the middle order with Dan Vettori probably coming in at No. 8," Bracewell told NZPA.

Bracewell had initially said Hopkins' ability as a "death-hitting" specialist would make him a valuable lower-order player. However, he failed to score in their warm-up loss to West Indies and made 6 late in the innings against Australia.

There were also plans to use the left-handed Oram at No. 3 to break up New Zealand's string of right-handers but he was almost knocked out by a Brett Lee bouncer on Saturday. He fell for 4 and was rested the next day against West Indies.

Peter Fulton, who came in at first-drop on Sunday and made 51 from 43 balls, will stay in that position. "By putting him up to No. 3 means we can take some pressure off Jake [Oram]," Bracewell said.